20 April 2023
Hyderabad
Courtesy its impressive promotional material released so far, Virupaksha, starring Sai Dharam Tej, is one of the most anticipated films of the summer. The film’s writer-director Karthik Dandu tells idlebrain.com exclusively on how he approached Sukumar to associate with the film, learning’s from him, what went into creating the world of ‘90s, the first few days of working with Sai after he recovered from the terrible accident, signing on Kantara composer for the film, his favourite horror films growing up and more…
Your maiden film as a director Bham Bholenath didn’t do well. How did you take it?
I corrected myself in many ways. People realized that I could direct, that was the good part about that film. But commercially it failed. Be it the casting, the story or the concept, it didn’t cast a spell on the audience. I’ve realized that there were mistakes from my end and I wanted to correct them with my second film at any cost. It is the reason why I took a long gap. I was waiting for a proper platform to get associated with next. Yes, the first film’s failure was heartbreaking but it helped me realize that I had to play to my strength. I like the genres horror and thriller. I used to pass time watching such genres. In fact, even when I’m under stress, I watch films belonging to such genres and forget my worries.
How did you approach Sukumar?
I met many producers with the story of Virupaksha. It required a certain budget. I made Bham Bholenath on a budget of Rs 1.5 crore while it recovered Rs 1 crore. So if I pitch an Rs 20 crore subject up next, nobody will be willing to invest, right? That’s when I realized that only a director can understand another director. Back then directors were floating banners and producing films. Somehow I got in touch with Ashok Bandreddi who takes care of Sukumar Writings. He endorsed my story and later took me to Sukumar sir. The moment sir heard the story; he said he would produce it. He added that it will take time for him to produce as he had to finish Rangasthalam first. He said the screenplay needs some corrections and that he will sit on it. He also said that it will be a big movie in the range of Rs 30-40 crore. The story I took to him had no songs without much drama. It progressed in a serious horror tone. He Indianised it.
What did you learn from Sukumar?
I’ve learnt many things. For every scene he sees a probability of different versions and he would make me think on those lines. Plus, he gives more importance to drama. The way he develops drama; I’ve adapted it to my style. I’ve enjoyed the whole process of discussing the film with him and later shooting it. Not just me, in fact every technician enjoyed the whole journey. It happens very rarely in movies, Sukumar sir said. Producer Bapi, who has given me complete freedom in executing the project, also echoed a similar feeling. I would proudly say that if tomorrow the film hits the bull’s eye, right from the DI colorist to the DTS mixing guy, everybody has done their part. They were inspired by the story. It’s not a regular formulaic story. There are no commercial elements in the film. There is just one song. In the whole process of making the film, the best part for me was screenplay discussions with Sukumar sir. I’m eagerly waiting for him to listen to my next story and sit on the screenplay.
Whose idea was it to pitch to Sai Dharam Tej and what was the actor’s first reaction?
It was Sukumar sir’s idea. I approached him with a story thinking that it should be made with a small hero and on a modest budget. But on the day he heard the story, he said it will be a big film and needs a big hero. After he sat on the screenplay and the bound script was ready, he asked me whom we should approach. Before I could come up with a name as I’m generally 10 seconds late; he proposed the name of Sai Dharam Tej, saying that he would be the best bet for the film. He felt so because Sai had until then done commercial films and doing Virupaksha will fetch him a good name. He rang him and told him that he will send me to narrate it. Sai Dharam Tej agreed to the story in the first narration itself.
Let’s talk about the film…
The story inception part is in 1979 while the reactions take place in 1991. Because of the superstitious beliefs of Rudravanam village, some paranormal activities take place. How does Sai Dharam Tej’s role take it? Will he believe in such things in the first place? After a while, how he faces the threat and how he saves the village forms the gist.
What went into creating the world of the ‘90s?
As I’ve told you, I’ve taken superstitious beliefs as the core point to make the film, so to add to the believability factor, we’ve set it in 1991. We had to put up a fictional village in the middle of a forest to create an atmosphere for the film and to enhance the mood of the story. It’s not a tribal village. It is filled with civilized people but it’s just that they are not greatly educated. It has a panchayat, a sarpanch and runs in a systematic way but then their belief systems are strange. For this reason, we went back to the ‘90s and created everything. Two-three locations will act like another character in the film.
What was the chat like with the cinematographer before you began the film?
Cinematographer Shamdat was hungry to prove himself with a different concept when I pitched him this story. He got very excited straight away and we started working on it. We wanted to create a mood with lighting pattern and executing style. There are elements in the story, which the audience should feel without us telling about them. We only use metaphors. For that, there were references from his end and my end. We also watched a few Hollywood films for reference and came up with a colour palette that we stuck to.
The trailer has a lot of shots involving birds. That must’ve been hard…
Except for a few drama scenes, I had the storyboard done for each and every shot. We called the computer graphics supervisor and started building assets. Crows are another character in the film. Generally with CG, for some shots an existing 3D module is used but for this film, we built our own assets. That way I had a lot of freedom to explore with the CG shots. From rig to molding to texture, it’s our own now. Shamdat has suggested a Kerala-based DTM VFX Skool for CG. They’ve done computer graphics for Kantara, some Tamil and Malayalam films and a couple of Hindi films. They gave us a lot of support.
What was the biggest hurdle you confronted while making this film?
To begin with, the accident to Tej was a hurdle. We were supposed to go in front of the cameras on Monday and he met with an accident on Friday. Imagine how it would be? I worked on the story for three years and everything was set for us to go and Tej unfortunately meets with an accident. No one had clarity for almost 22 days. I completely went blank in this period; I didn’t know what was going around. Shooting wise, I didn’t face any hurdle. As everyone was so excited with the story, it went like an excursion. However, there was a time constraint for post production; that was a hurdle but we overcame it with proper planning.
You’ve shot the film in a forest and that too in the night time. How was that experience?
You should ask the cast and crew about their experience (smiles). Most of the time, I’m in a forest or close to nature. I’ve written Virupaksha staying in a forest. And I’ve shot the film at places–Araku, Paderu– where I wrote the film. It was a known place for me while for the cast and crew it was an unknown territory, so they had their little fears. 70 percent of the shoot unfolds in the night time.
For a long time into the making of the film, you were not without a music director. Why?
Ajaneesh Loknath was on board after the first schedule of the film. I have known him since 2013-14. At that time, I approached him for Bham Bholenath but it didn’t work out due to budget constraints. He was first launched with a horror film. With Virupaksha, we wanted someone to create a mood with the sound. The production asked me to give a list so that they can approach and finalize one name. Suddenly, Ajaneesh’s name crossed my mind. He was doing Vikrant Rona and another ‘X’ film at that time. I spoke to him, told the idea, while he shared with me what can be done musically to my idea. Vikrant Rona released at this time. Two weeks after we signed him, the ‘X’ film turned out to be Kantara, which received widespread acclaim for its music and sound. Initially, there were apprehensions about his choice from some corners but after Kantara they got the confidence that I made the right choice.
This is Sai Dharam Tej’s first film after that terrible accident. How were the first few days like with him on sets?
For the first three days, it was difficult. He was physically ok but to reel dialogue in a smooth flow took time. The normal flow was missing. For every four words of his, two words would roll over. It brought in a certain inferiority complex in him for the first three days. He felt the shooting was getting delayed because of him. But technicians and his co-actors encouraged him and asked him to take his own time. After three days, he went to speech therapy and there was no looking back subsequently.
What are your favourite horror and thriller films growing up?
I’m a big fan of The Exorcist, The Evil Dead and Raathri. I also like Kaun; it was one of the first films on split personality disorder. Many moons later Aparichitudu came. I also like Anveshana. I’m the biggest fan of M Night Shyamalan; I like his writing. I’m a fan of The Sixth Sense and The Village. I also like his The Happening, which was a bomb at the box office.
What else are you working on?
I have another story, which belongs to a different genre. It is one of my favorite stories. Now that Virupaksha has come out, I can take out that story without any worries. Previously I had no confidence in whether someone would pump in so much money for that story.
-NAGARAJ GOUD
